The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Cameroon: UN office strongly condemns attacks on aid workers
Harassment, attacks, abductions and extortions of aid workers are dramatically on the rise in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The situation has reached a point where aid delivery has had to be scaled back, putting many lives at unnecessary risk.
“Over the past two months we have seen a significant increase in attacks with six aid agencies reporting having had their workers kidnapped or illegally detained in live-threatening incidents” said Jens Larke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) speaking today to a virtual press conference at the United Nations in Geneva.
He added that “there is an increasing widespread practice by non-state armed groups of setting up illegal checkpoints along the main supply routes and abducting aid workers”.
All staff involved in these incidents have been released, but they are traumatised because of the death threats they received during the abduction.
These constraints have strongly impacted the work of humanitarian organisations with consequences for the people they serve.
The situation in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, which started as a political crisis, has been marked by violent clashes and has led to a complex humanitarian emergency with 1.7 million people in need in the region.
Quoting Cameroon’s humanitarian coordinator Allegra Baiocchi, the OCHA spokesperson said that “the increase of attacks is very troubling as it comes at a time where efforts are actually focused in scaling up in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that “the Humanitarian Coordinator has reiterated the UN Secretary-Generals call for a global ceasefire to also apply in Cameroon”.
Aid workers and the assistance they provide to the most vulnerable populations can make the difference between life and death for entire communities in this part of Cameroon, OCHA says. In this context, the kidnapping of aid workers has a devastating effect on life-saving aid.
“Motives for these kidnappings are mostly predatory - kidnapping for ransom or theft”, Laerke said. “Armed elements have also enforced so called ‘ghost towns’ which is days where they prohibit people from venturing out, they have used improvised explosive devices in populated areas and closed transport routes between cities for several days”.
Cameroon security forces have also reportedly delayed the movement of humanitarian cargo.
“There is also an issue with the regular armed forces there, the Cameroonian armed forces, which have withheld and stopped trucks particularly with aid. They are having some reports of them detaining protective equipment that was to be used for humanitarian workers”.
According to OCHA; 450,000 of the 1,7 million people in need are displaced, 600,000 have already fled the violence to other parts of the country. A total of 2.3 million people in Cameroon need food, shelter, non-food items and protection as a result of the crisis.
1. Wide shot: exterior, UN Geneva flag alley.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Over the past two months we have seen a significant increase in attacks with 6 aid agencies reporting having had their workers kidnapped or illegally detained in live-threatening incidents”.
3. Medium shot: Flag alley in front of UN Geneva building
4. SOUNDBITE (EN) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “There is an increasing widespread practice by non-state armed groups of setting up illegal checkpoints along the main supply routes and abducting aid workers”.
5. Close up: UN flag
6. SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The increase of attacks is very troubling as it comes at a time where efforts are actually focused in scaling up in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The Humanitarian Coordinator has reiterated the UN Secretary-Generals call for a global ceasefire to also apply in Cameroon”.
7. Medium shot: UN Geneva Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Motives for these kidnappings are mostly predatory - kidnapping for ransom or theft. Armed elements have also enforced so called ‘ghost towns’ which is days where they prohibit people from venturing out, they have used improvised explosive devices in populated areas and closed transport routes between cities for several days”.
9. Wide shot: UN flag alley
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “There is also an issue with the regular armed forces there, the Cameroonian armed forces, which have withheld and stopped trucks particularly with aid. They are having some reports of them detaining protective equipment that was to be used for humanitarian workers”.
11. Wide shot: UN flag, in background ICRC building
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation
As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR
The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.